Threatening Gestures

Kyōhaku-teki [脅迫的] Shigusa [仕草]

DANGER: WARNING:

Contrary to what many teach in martial disciplines, DO NOT LITERALLY “STRIKE” first!!! Do act first and make sure those actions are appropriate and necessary for social and  Legal SELF-DEFENSE!

Posturing

Look at posturing as a warning sign on the highway to conflict and violence. - a chance to take an earlier exit to safety and security. It is also a means some will use to egg you into literally striking first then crying to first responders how they didn’t do anything and you just attacked them. Know that there is a fine line between posturing and actually attacking and that they best is to “act” first appropriately and that can be all means of avoidance. The road to conflict and violence is chock full of all sorts of dangers so “act” accordingly!

Recommendation:

One of my personal prime sources on violence dynamics is Mr. Rory Miller and you might find this article as a primer to learning, understanding and dealing with the subject matter. (https://tinyurl.com/4wk3pp3s) & (https://tinyurl.com/8z87fjvt)

Body Language 

Karada [体] Gengo [言語]

No matter what words are used in any situation, always look to and rely on body language. Know that if your dealing with a potentially bad situation that you missed some road signs that could have avoided this but since you here:

• Sharp, angular gestures – making gestures that are not smooth, for example chopping hands, banging one fist against an open hand, finger-pointing or waving fists
• Space invading – getting too close to someone else
• Eyeballing – intense eye contact or staring
• Frowning – clenching the eyes together and tightening the lips

Aggressive Voice

Examples of aggressive voice may include:

• Loud – shouting or voice raised above its normal level
• Forceful – directive and demanding
• Sneering – growling or sniggering while speaking

Common Aggressive Mis-Conceptions

While the above behaviours are very general and would be widely recognised by most, aggression doesn’t always have to be loud and in your face. Being overly directive or instructive or too action-orientated could also be perceived as being aggressive. As could being defensive or argumentative/standing your ground.

The issue is that because it’s behavioural, something you may deem to be not aggressive may actually be perceived as being aggressive by someone else.

https://www.revolutionlearning.co.uk/article/what-is-aggressive-behaviour/#

• Examining body language can help give us advanced warnings about imminent actions of an individual or group of people
• Body language is like a window into a person's emotions and can express what is happening inside their minds
• Examining body language is part of our natural instincts as a warning device or even a defense mechanism

Someone who is threatening could very easily have pursed lips, may sneer or stare violently, or put on a non-aggressive facial expression and still speak volumes through other parts of their body.

Pupil dilation

Pulse: heart rate increases dramatically; visible in neck and temple veins as well as increased breathing

Sweat: not exactly getting exercise and you're sweating on your face

• someone's shoulder are relaxed or raised
• almost all people who have their adrenaline pumping will breathe through their chests very hard
• keep your eyes focused on the hands, watch out for balled up fists, but it's a telltale sign someone is thinking violently, it's important to understand that even crossed arms and hands in pockets could be threatening within certain context.
• blading comes into this type of body language reading, and it's something that people naturally do when they are threatened. Keep in mind that many people who do carry weapons will blade their weapon side away from someone in order to protect and hide their weapon.
• another person comes into your personal space that's of course a moment to feel threatened

someone may act very friendly and enter a friends-only space while not being invited to do so. This of course makes people react in a defensive way, or submit to their dominance in the space between you.

The closer someone gets to your comfort zone the more they are risking you putting in the ‘first-strike' that makes detrimental differences in assault cases. They may know this and be baiting you into fighting.

if someone you don't want touching you touches you it can always be perceived in a form of threat.

gestures: insulting gestures, sudden movements and mock attacks.

https://www.housleylaw.com/blawg/body-language-considered-threatening

Nonverbal Communication plays an important role in terms of creating a feeling of safety and comfort or threat and the need to defend oneself. 

Here are some examples of behaviors that may be construed as Threatening and some that are typically understood to be Non-Threatening. 

Threatening Nonverbal Communication
Staring and Glaring	Turning Away
Invading Personal Space	Puffing Up
Touching	Mocking
Pointing	Patronizing
Raising Voice	Interrupting
Smirking	Shaking Head
Laughing	Rolling Eyes

Non-Threatening Nonverbal Communication

Keeping Distance

Smiling

Bowed Head

Gaze Avoidance

Constricted Body Positions

Soft Tone of Voice

Think about how these behaviors occur in the context of a classroom or other teaching and learning environment. Are there interactions based on conscious or unconscious forms of NVC that may be unnecessarily threatening? How might the same goals be accomplished without need for displays of power?

https://www.creducation.net/resources/nonverbal_communication/displays_of_powerthreat.html

someone grits their teeth and then shoves their jaw out in your direction.

When someone’s chin juts at you, they are threatening your space with theirs. It’s a nonverbal way of saying, “Back up!” Another reason the jaw thrust is confrontational is because it forces the person to look down their nose at you, which is a very standoffish gesture.

De-escalation: 

Don’t mirror an aggressive person’s behavior. Keep your jaw relaxed, and take one step back to show that you are giving them physical and emotional space.

Flaring our nostrils before a fight is a very important survival mechanism, because when we open up our nostrils, we are able to take in more oxygen.

pursed lips, even accompanied by rapid blinking

De-escalation: 

Show your palms and offer an explanation if you said something polarizing. You want to show them you are not closed, in case they are disagreeing with you.

Before getting into a fight, our bodies want to get as big as possible. This happens for two reasons. 

First, when we are bigger, we look more imposing to our opponent—and could possibly scare them off. 

Second, the more space our bodies take up, the more testosterone we produce. someone who is about to act out with violence will often puff out their chest and hold their head high to look as big as possible.

De-escalation: 

Don’t cower. While you don’t want to puff up like them (this challenges them), you don’t want to cower either. This will not only make you feel worse, but it might encourage them to see you as a weak opponent. You are much better off standing your ground and holding your hands out and open with your palms up. This is the universal “nonthreatening” gesture and signals to them you don’t want to fight.

When we are under stress, our brain goes into fight, flight, or freeze mode where it needs to assess the environment incredibly quickly to decide what to do next. If someone is feeling threatened and is considering getting violent with you, their pupils expand to take in as much of the surroundings as possible

Tense or lowered eyebrows is usually a very dominant gesture. Someone might express feelings of anger by lowering their eyebrows. Their heads could also be tilted downward. This type of stare is characterized as a long, hard stare that has little to no blinking.

Licking your teeth is usually seen as a sign of aggression since teeth are a primitive weapon that we use when threatened. It can happen right before a fight or if someone enters your comfortable space without permission.

Blading (Aggressive/Fighting Stance)

Kōgeki-tekina sentō shisei [攻撃的な戦闘姿勢]

Blading is when you turn your body away from the threat so less of your torso is visible to them. In other words, instead of facing someone front on, you pull your leg and shoulder back so the opponent can only see and access the side of the body. In boxing, you can see a competitor in the blading position where his dominant leg moves back.

Blading happens for multiple reasons:

• When you blade, fewer of your vital organs are exposed. Your shoulder and arm can take harder hits than your stomach or eyes.
• When you blade in preparation for violence, typically your dominant leg steps back. When the nondominant leg steps back, you are more solid on your feet (it’s harder to get pushed back).
• When you blade, you can punch with more power.

If you see someone step back with their dominant leg and bring their arms up, it’s time for you to get the heck out of Dodge.

De-escalation: 

Defuse an argument before blading happens. Since blading may likely occur from a front-on position, then try going from a frontal position to sitting or standing shoulder to shoulder. Don’t square off, or you may increase hostility and escalate.

Tightened Muscles

When someone is preparing for a physical altercation, the brain wants to protect vital organs. The way the body does this is by creating a muscular armor around soft tissue.

When someone’s entire body tenses up, they are protecting their vitals and getting increased blood flow to their limbs in order to fight or flee faster.

Clenching fists is another type of tightening that happens around anger. When we are angry, we often tightly grip our hands into tough fists. If you are speaking with someone and notice they have just tightened their grip, tread carefully.

sneering is a disgusted and angry facial expression, characterized by a corner of the lip rising upward. It is typically caused by anger, irritation, or if a person is under physical and emotional threat.

closed fists can show anger and dismissal. Watch for clenched fists at the side of the body—the harder a person clenches, the more muscle around the forearms you can usually see. If you see clenched fists, be prepared to sidestep a punch or get out of Dodge before that happens.

De-escalation: 

When you see the foot stomp, calmly take a step back. A foot stomper can be like a rhino ready to charge, so be prepared to give them space.

You might think of this as a glare or “narrowing your eyes” at someone. This is the best one to notice to prevent escalation, because when suspicion or dislike is addressed early, it can prevent a fight.

De-escalation: 

If you say something and see the other person narrow their eyes at you, go right into clarification and explanation mode. Figure out exactly what they are hung up on and how to address it.

Anger: women get as angry as men. However, men were found to be worse at controlling their anger than women. That’s why men may be more likely than women to express their anger nonverbally

most real fights are avoided by displays of power, threats, or counterthreats to avoid physical escalation.

How to Calm Yourself Down

If you’re displaying angry or aggressive body language yourself, you should know how to quickly calm yourself down in any situation. For your next steps, consider one of these guides to ease your anger or other wonky emotions:

https://www.scienceofpeople.com/aggressive-body-language/

Threat

Facial signals

Much aggression can be shown in the face, from disapproving frowns and pursed lips to sneers and full snarls. The eyes can be used to stare and hold the gaze for long period. They may also squint, preventing the other person seeing where you are looking.

Attack signals

When somebody is about to attack, they give visual signal such as clenching of fists ready to strike and lowering and spreading of the body for stability. They are also likely to give anger signs such as redness of the face, lowered brow, showing teeth, scowling or sneering.

Exposing oneself

Exposing oneself to attack is also a form of aggression. It is saying 'Go on - I dare you. I will still win.' It can include not looking at the other person, crotch displays, relaxing the body, turning away and so on

Invasion

Invading the space of the other person in some way is an act of aggression that is equivalent to one country invading another.

False friendship

Invasion is often done under the cloak of of familiarity, where you act as if you are being friendly and move into a space reserved for friends, but without being invited. This gives the other person a dilemma of whether to repel a 'friendly' advance or to accept dominance of the other.

Approach

When you go inside the comfort zone of others without permission, you are effectively invading their territory. The closer you get, the greater your ability to use a 'first strike' attack, from which an opponent may not recover. While you may well not intend this, the other person may well feel the discomfort of this risk.

Touching

Touching the person is another form of invasion. Even touching social touch zones such as arm and back can be aggressive.

Gestures

Insulting gestures

There are many, many gestures that have the primary intent of insulting the other person and hence inciting them to anger and a perhaps unwise battle. Single and double fingers pointed up, arm thrusts, chin tilts and so on are used, although many of these do vary across cultures (which can make for hazardous accidental movements when you are overseas).

Many gestures are sexual in nature, indicating that the other person should go away and fornicate, that you (or someone else) are having sex with their partner, and so on.

Mock attacks

Gestures may include symbolic action that mimics actual attacks, including waving fingers (the beating baton), shaking fists, head-butts, leg-swinging and so on. This is saying 'Here is what I will do to you!' 

Physical items may be used as substitutes, for example banging of tables and doors or throwing . Again, this is saying 'This could be you!'

Sudden movements

All of these gestures may be done suddenly, signaling your level of aggression and testing the other person's reactions.

Large gestures

The size of gestures may also be used to signal levels of aggression, from simple finger movements to whole arm sweeps, sometimes even with exaggerated movements of the entire body.

http://changingminds.org/techniques/body/aggressive_body.htm